Kanye West, legally known as “Ye,” is rapidly running out of social media platforms to post his antisemitic content. On Sunday, Twitter locked Ye’s account after he posted an antisemitic tweet saying he was going “DEFCON 3” on Jewish people. In the same tweet, Ye added he “can’t be antisemitic because black people are actually Jew[s].”
Twitter confirmed to Gizmodo on Sunday that Ye’s account had been locked, and the antisemitic tweet removed, due to a violation of the platform’s policies. Twitter’s move comes one day after Instagram restricted Ye’s account for insinuating that the rapper Diddy, whose real name is Sean Combs, was being controlled by Jews. His words were condemned by Jewish advocacy groups, who warned that invoking antisemitic tropes like control are dangerous and foment hatred against Jews.
Notably, Twitter’s lockout of Ye stands in stark contrast to the warm welcome given to him by the platform’s potential future owner, Tesla CEO Elon Musk.
Welcome back to Twitter, my friend!
— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) October 8, 2022
Although Ye had not been active on Twitter since late 2020, he went over to Twitter on Saturday to blast Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg for “kicking him off” Instagram. Meta confirmed to Gizmodo that Ye had not kicked off of Instagram, but rather restricted, which means that he can’t post, comment, or send DMs, among others.
Since Ye returned to Twitter, he has tweeted a total of six times. Tweets included a picture of a black hat with “2024” written in white letters, a post decrying how Zuckerberg could have kicked him off Instagram, and a question to his followers stating: “Who do you think created cancel culture?”
The antisemitic tweet deleted by Twitter was screenshoted by several users and can be seen below. The full text reads:
“I’m a bit sleepy tonight but when I wake up I’m going death con 3 [sic] On JEWISH PEOPLE,” he wrote, linking to a Forbes article over Musk welcoming him to Twitter. “The funny thing is I actually can’t be antisemitic because black people are also Jew [sic]. You guys have toyed with me and tried to black ball anyone whoever [sic] opposes your agenda.”
Good morning East Coast. To catch you up:
Kanye declared war on Jews via Twitter.
He proclaimed he can’t be antisemitic because black people are Jews.
Twitter removed his tweet.
Waiting for Kanye to wake up and continue his wild online rampage against Jews. pic.twitter.com/t4FcyTiixm
— Aviva Klompas (@AvivaKlompas) October 9, 2022
How Long Will Ye Be Locked Out of His Twitter Account?
According to Twitter’s guidelines on enforcement actions for rule breaking, users’ whose accounts are locked — officially known as “read-only mode” — can’t tweet, retweet, or like content. However, they can view their timelines and send DMs to their followers.
“If it seems like an otherwise healthy account is in the middle of an abusive episode, we might temporarily make their account read-only, limiting their ability to Tweet, Retweet, or Like content until calmer heads prevail,” Twitter notes in its help centre. “When an account is in read-only mode, others will still be able to see and engage with the account.”
Users can be locked out of their account from between 12 hours to 7 days. Twitter did not respond to a question from Gizmodo on how long Ye’s lockout would last.
Ye’s Week of Controversy and Antisemitism
Ye’s restrictions on social media capped off a week of controversy and hateful behaviour. The artist began forming this tidal wave at his Yeezy show at Paris Fashion Week, where he debuted his “White Lives Matter” T-Shirts. “White Lives Matter” is a white supremacist phrase that started being used in 2015 and is a racist response to the Black Lives Matter movement, according to the Anti-Defamation League.
The shirts were heavily criticised by fashion critics, with Vogue calling them “pure violence” and saying it was “hugely irresponsible” to debut and provide this type of clothing and ideas to the most dangerous extremists.
Diddy joined critics in their criticism of Ye’s T-Shirts, saying in an Instagram post that “Black Lives Matter” is not a joke and urging people not to buy the shirts. Later on, in a text message conversation with Ye, Diddy asked to meet with him in person to talk about the issue. The proposition didn’t go over well and ended with Ye insinuating that Jewish people were controlling Diddy.
“This ain’t a game. Ima use you as an example to show the Jewish people that told you to call me that no one can threaten or influence me,” Ye wrote in a now-deleted Instagram post featuring screenshots of his conversation with Diddy. “I told you this was war. Now gone get you some business.”
On top of Ye’s behaviour on social media, he also spewed antisemitic comments in an interview with Tucker Carlson, where he accused former presidential advisor Jared Kushner, who is a Jew, of organising the Abraham Accords “to make money.” Greed is another Jewish trope and has led to many stereotypes, such as those that state Jews are money-oriented or control the world’s finances.
Some people on social media have referenced that Ye’s behaviour is due to his mental health issues. Ye was diagnosed with bipolar disorder in 2016 and has often spoken about his illness. However, others have rightly pushed back and stated that mental illness is no excuse for antisemitism or bad behaviour.